What does הָמָה (hāmāh) mean in the Bible?
Roaring, tumult or moaning describes sound and disturbance through the subject and setting the passage supplies. Psalm 46 speaks of roaring waters and raging nations while naming God as refuge.
Hebrew · H1993
הָמָה
Roaring, tumult or moaning describes sound and disturbance through the subject and setting the passage supplies. Psalm 46 speaks of roaring waters and raging nations while naming God as refuge.
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הָמָהH1993
Pronunciationhāmāh
What does הָמָה (hāmāh) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for הָמָה (H1993) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H1993?
The BSB source-word alignment has 34 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include laments (3), roar (3), is loud (2), rage (2), roars (2).
Where does הָמָה (hāmāh) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at 1 Kings 1:41. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (11), Jeremiah (9), Isaiah (6), Proverbs (4).
What This Word Actually Means
Roaring, tumult or moaning describes sound and disturbance through the subject and setting the passage supplies. Psalm 46 speaks of roaring waters and raging nations while naming God as refuge. Psalm 42 asks about the soul's unease and calls it to hope in God without pretending the sorrow has disappeared. Psalm 55 names repeated cries in distress and says God hears the voice.
First Kings reports a city's uproar during Solomon's public anointing, while Jeremiah attributes yearning and compassion toward Ephraim to the Lord. The range therefore cannot make every disturbance hostile or every troubled inward response sinful. Notice whether waters, a crowd, a sufferer or attributed divine speech is in view. A broad sound word is not a clinical diagnosis or a test of faith.
Read the actual danger, prayer or compassion before teaching how the passage responds to the noise or unease.
How the Bible Uses It
Roaring seas, raging nations, an uneasy soul, prayerful distress, a city's celebration and the Lord's stated compassion provide differing uses. The subject and surrounding response determine whether disturbance is threatening, grieving or otherwise described.
- Ps.46.3
Though their waters roar and foam and the mountains quake in the surge. Selah
Roaring and foaming waters belong to the scene of upheaval alongside God named as refuge, rather than a description of a human person's moral fault.
- Ps.42.5
Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.
The speaker questions the soul's unease and calls it to hope, then continues to describe despair and remembrance, keeping trust and unresolved sorrow visible.
- Ps.55.17
Morning, noon, and night, I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice.
Morning, noon and night cries in distress are directed to God and heard, so the sound is not automatically condemned as unfaithful clamor.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itlaments3×Isaiah 16:11, Jeremiah 48:36
roar3×Psalms 46:3, Isaiah 51:15, Jeremiah 31:35
is loud2×Proverbs 7:11, Proverbs 9:13
rage2×Psalms 46:6, Psalms 83:2
roars2×Jeremiah 6:23, Jeremiah 50:42
snarling2×Psalms 59:6, Psalms 59:14
the unease2×Psalms 42:11, Psalms 43:5
[and] roar1×Zechariah 9:15
and I groaned1×Psalms 77:3
concourse1×Proverbs 1:21
growl1×Isaiah 59:11
he bustles1×Psalms 39:6
I cry out1×Psalms 55:17
is a brawler1×Proverbs 20:1
like the roaring1×Isaiah 17:12
moaning1×Ezekiel 7:16
pounded1×Song Of Solomon 5:4
pounds1×Jeremiah 4:19
they rage1×Isaiah 17:12
They roar1×Jeremiah 5:22
uproar1×1 Kings 1:41
vvv1×Isaiah 22:2
Why the unease1×Psalms 42:5
will roar1×Jeremiah 51:55
yearns for him1×Jeremiah 31:20
Show sample aligned rows
1 Kings 1:41הוֹמָֽה׃touproarVerb - Qal - Participle - feminine singularPsalms 39:6יֶהֱמָי֑וּןtohe bustlesVerb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural | Paragogic nunPsalms 42:5וַתֶּהֱמִ֪יtoWhy the uneaseConjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - second person feminine singularPsalms 42:11תֶּהֱמִ֪יtothe uneaseVerb - Qal - Imperfect - second person feminine singularPsalms 43:5תֶּהֱמִ֪יtothe uneaseVerb - Qal - Imperfect - second person feminine singularPsalms 46:3יֶהֱמ֣וּtoroarVerb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine pluralPsalms 46:6הָמ֣וּtorageVerb - Qal - Perfect - third person common pluralPsalms 55:17וְאֶהֱמֶ֑הtoI cry outConjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative if contextual - first person common singularPsalms 59:6יֶהֱמ֥וּtosnarlingVerb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine pluralPsalms 59:14יֶהֱמ֥וּtosnarlingVerb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row1 Kings 1:41
Aligned rows34
Books represented8
1 Kings1Psalms11Proverbs4Song Of Solomon1Isaiah6Jeremiah9Ezekiel1Zechariah1
Source forms
יֶהֱמֶ֔ה3xye·hĕ·mehJeremiah 6:23, Jeremiah 48:36, Jeremiah 50:42
יֶהֱמָי֑וּן3xye·hĕ·mā·yūnPsalms 39:6, Psalms 83:2, Isaiah 17:12
יֶהֱמ֥וּ2xye·hĕ·mūPsalms 59:6, Psalms 59:14
תֶּהֱמִ֪י2xte·hĕ·mîPsalms 42:11, Psalms 43:5
הוֹמָֽה׃1xhō·w·māh1 Kings 1:41
הֽוֹמִיָּ֔ה1xhō·w·mî·yāhIsaiah 22:2
הֹמֶ֣ה1xhō·mehProverbs 20:1
הֹֽמֶה־1xhō·meh-Jeremiah 4:19
Parsing patterns
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural4xPsalms 46:3, Psalms 59:6, Psalms 59:14, Isaiah 16:11
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine singular4xJeremiah 6:23, Jeremiah 48:36, Jeremiah 50:42
Verb - Qal - Participle - feminine singular4x1 Kings 1:41, Proverbs 7:11, Proverbs 9:13, Isaiah 22:2
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural4xPsalms 46:6, Song Of Solomon 5:4, Jeremiah 31:20, Zechariah 9:15
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural | Paragogic nun3xPsalms 39:6, Psalms 83:2, Isaiah 17:12
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person common plural2xJeremiah 5:22, Jeremiah 51:55
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural2xIsaiah 51:15, Jeremiah 31:35
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person feminine singular2xPsalms 42:11, Psalms 43:5
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Respond to voiced distress with listening and appropriate practical support rather than a hidden-cause diagnosis.
- Do not promise instant calm or instruct a person to disregard danger because God is named as refuge.
Avoid claiming...
- Every troubled or noisy response proves rebellion or absence of faith.
- The Hebrew range establishes a clinical condition or guarantees immediate emotional relief.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Audible disorder ranging from low murmuring to violent tumult; externalized emotional or political upheaval made vocally manifest
Strong'sH1993
Lexical occurrences34 versesWord forms1 form23 referencesVerse guides0 guides
Study linkIsaiah 22:1-8Source Gloss
to make a loud sound (like English 'hum'); by implication, to be in great commotion or tumult , to rage , war , moan , clamor
Grammatical Forms
How the stem changes the meaning of this verb across the biblical text.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Form groups1Aligned forms23
Qalbasic active stem — the word in its most common, direct sense23×
ImperfectIsa 16:11 · Ps 46:4 · Ps 59:7 · Ps 59:15 · Jer 6:23 · Jer 48:36 · Jer 50:42 · Ps 42:12 · Ps 43:5 · Isa 59:1111×
Participle active1Kgs 1:41 · Ezek 7:16 · Isa 22:2 · Jer 4:19 · Prov 1:21 · Prov 7:11 · Prov 9:13 · Prov 20:18×
PerfectJer 31:20 · Ps 46:7 · Song 5:4 · Zech 9:154×
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
To roar or be in noisy confusion.
Showing 1 selected witness from 34 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
הָמָה is built from this root:
הוּםH1949
Why This Word Matters
The noise contrasts with the seriousness of impending judgment.Isaiah 22:1-8
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Disturbance must be heard with its subject and context. Psalm 46 pairs the waters' roar and nations' rage with refuge in God, preserving the reality of upheaval. Psalm 42's recurring question addresses unease while the singer remembers, prays and hopes; the repetition does not mean the distress is instantly resolved. Psalm 55 brings recurring cries to God and states that the voice is heard.
First Kings' city noise follows an anointing and rejoicing, and Jeremiah's attributed speech names the Lord's compassion for Ephraim. A teacher should not reduce this range to hostile anger or treat its inward use as a diagnosis. Let the passages distinguish danger, celebration, lament and compassion. Support truthful prayer and responsible care without declaring a distressed person spiritually deficient or demanding that quietness be achieved before help is deserved.
Anchor passage
Ps.42.5
Doctrinal connections
- Psalm 46:1-7 names roaring waters and raging nations within upheaval while repeatedly describing God as refuge and fortress.
- Psalm 42:3-7 and 9-11 retains tears, remembrance, enemy taunts and recurring unease alongside hope in God, without an instant-emotion guarantee.
- Psalm 55:16-19 describes repeated distressed prayer and God's hearing amid opposition, keeping lament distinct from approving the opponents' conduct.
- First Kings 1:39-43 connects the city's uproar with Solomon's anointing and rejoicing, while Joab's question and Jonathan's answer identify the actual event.
- Jeremiah 31:18-21 attributes remembering, yearning and compassion for Ephraim to the Lord, retaining repentance and return within the address.
- Isaiah 59:9-13 places growling and moaning within a communal acknowledgment of absent justice and confessed wrongdoing, naming the charge in that passage.
The licensed Hebrew range includes noisy tumult, roaring, moaning and troubled inward responses. Direct witnesses supply different subjects, including waters and attributed yearning; the range cannot make every sound identical or import a clinical meaning from an English rendering.
From Old to New Testament
Hebrews 5:7 describes Jesus offering prayers with loud cries and tears and being heard because of His reverence. This separate Greek statement is not the Hebrew verb, but it prevents a simple contrast between loud distress and faithful prayer. Read its following suffering and obedience language in its own argument without claiming that every prayerful cry guarantees immediate removal of danger.